TAUNTON — The City Council voted on Tuesday night to support a $2.1 million project to construct new bleachers at the Taunton High School football stadium.

The nine-member City Council voted unanimously to fund the project with a $1.6 million bond and $500,000 that was already agreed to by the School Committee. The council narrowed down project designs to two similar choices — including a $2.11 million design and a $2.38 million design — and specified that stadium project will use a steel understructure for the new bleachers.

The vote also created a project committee, headed by Taunton Public Schools Superintendent Julie Hackett. The committee is tasked with making final decisions based on limited set of preliminary designs that the city developed for the project. The committee’s decisions will include whether the seats themselves will be made of aluminum or steel, and how handicapped access will be provided for a new press box, using either a ramp or a limited-use lift.

The stadium project would only produce new bleachers for the home side of the field. The visitors-side bleachers will not be reconstructed, according to the project plans. City councilors said on Tuesday night that fans from both teams would watch on what has traditionally been the Taunton Tigers home side of the stands.

During the meeting, City Council President A.J. Marshall said that it was now time to vote on the project, to get it into motion, instead of kicking it further down the road.

“I would love a decision tonight,” he said.

Taunton Superintendent of Buildings Wayne Walkden, who will be the project manager, presented the city’s plans for the project to the City Council.

Walkden also gave the council the option of building a bathroom facility near the end zone closest to the stadium entrance, although this only had limited support from the city councilors, who were not interested in paying an extra $130,000 and obtaining an additional variance that would be required for the structure. Walkden said the benefit of moving the bathroom facility away from the home bleachers, where they have been located in the past, would be that it would make it easier to build visitors seating in the future.

Under the plans presented by Walkden, there would be a two-story press box, made of pre-fabricated materials. It would be double the size of the current press box, by adding a second level. Previously, the plans called for a brick press box, but those plans were scrapped, as part of revisions that saved over a $1 million in project costs.

City Councilor David Pottier added to the motion funding the project, ensuring that the spending is done in accordance with the plans presented by Walkden on Tuesday night.

Another part of the motion was to send a list of the members of the project committee, once they are selected, to the City Council Public Property Subcommittee. The councilors also asked that at least one member of the City Council be included on the project committee.

Page 2 of 2 - “It’s been a long and involved process looking at the stadium options,” Hackett said after the meeting adjourned. “It gets difficult when it comes to decision-making in public forums. But it was a good process and in the end we were able to save more money than we thought possible. I’m pleased with the decision and everyone involved. It’s good for the city because we are going to have bleachers that are safe, and a facility that is good for community use.”